Watling Penny Scale Antique Vending Machine - WFS200

Due to our earned reputation, we have the good fortune to be in high demand by collectors. Because most of our items have a waiting list, if you're looking for a specific collectible restored to this level, please ask to be put on our first come, first served list (refundable deposit required). Call 1-800-292-0008

Antique Watling Scale Company Vending Machine

Watling Scale Company of Chicago, IL opened in 1889 and starting manufacturing coin-operated vending machines, slot machines, and penny scales in 1902. They were placed in drugstores, supermarkets, movie theaters and amusement parks. This Model 400 penny scale was made circa 1930s-1940s, promising to tell your fortune and answer the mysteries of life while giving you your weight. They became very popular in the war years for servicemen on leave to keep an eye on their weight while on Liberty. This fortune telling penny scale is made from heavy cast iron and porcelain. This classic Americana drugstore icon will make a great addition to any game room, office, or Man Cave.

Rare vintage penny scale for the 200 Fortune Telling vending machine manufactured by Chicago Watling Scale Company of Chicago, Illinois founded in 1889. This genuine vintage coin-operated vending machine penny scale is in original working condition.

All antique memorabilia offered are genuine collectable and appreciable assets, not fake reproductions. All items are fine collectable art at the highest world class collector level. Contact us to order vintage Americana, antique signs, old gas pumps, and classic collectables at 1-800-292-0008.

Vintage Collectables

Due to our earned reputation, we have the good fortune to be in high demand by collectors. We always have a waiting list for most items. We suggest if you are looking for a specific collectable, please ask to be placed on our first-come, first-served list. (Refundable deposit required.) Call us at 1-800-292-0008.

Watling Scale Company - Company History

The Watling Scale Company was founded in 1889 in Chicago, Illinois. They produced a number of coin-operated weight scales, known as penny scales throughout the early to mid 1900s. Their penny scales included a variety of models that stood in drugstores as a means of weighing oneself outside of a doctor's office for the first time. The sales gimmicks included fortune telling, horoscopes, and bits of trivia distributed along with your measured weight shown on the penny scale. In their heyday of the 1930s and 1940s these penny scales brought in over $100 billion annually. These iconic coin-operated machines were the very first vending machines to provide a service only as opposed to a product such as soda, gum or peanuts, making way for other service only vending machines like bowling ball washers and laundromats.